Human rights

Democracy events

Tuesday, March 16 – 10:00 am to 11:30 a.m.  Disappearing God Gap: Religion’s Role in the 2008 Presidential Elections and Beyond – The Brookings Institution, Saul/Zilkha Rooms, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC – In a new book by religion and politics experts Corwin Smidt and Kevin den Dulk, The Disappearing God Gap? (Oxford University [read full story]

Activist demands accountability and end to impunity in Zimbabwe

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“As a human rights defender, I am hoping that the Zimbabwean Government will learn …., that it is not proper for a citizen to be abducted, tortured, and kept incommunicado for weeks on end without being tried,” said Jestina Mukoko yesterday. The executive director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, a grantee of the National Endowment [read full story]

Chad: revealing insights into former dictator’s methods

The trial of Hissène Habré, Chad’s former dictator, will be “the first trial by the courts of one country against the former head of state of another,” writes human rights lawyer Reed Brody – if it takes place.
Twenty years ago, Souleymane Guengueng watched hundreds of his fellow inmates in Chad’s notorious jails die from torture [read full story]

Ethiopia: democracy or stability?

As elections loom, Ethiopia appears to be a relatively stable, prosperous nation in a turbulent neighborhood, writes Lauren Gelfand – “a bulwark against increasingly isolated and sanctioned Eritrea and a comparative oasis of calm compared to perennially chaotic Somalia.”
But human rights and democracy advocates experience one of the continent’s most repressive regimes. After the 2005 [read full story]

North Korea – Open Radio exposes closed society

A North Korean factory worker was publicly executed by firing squad this week after conveying news out of the secretive communist state via his illicit cell phone, Associated Press reports:
The man, surnamed Chong, made calls to the defector using an illegal Chinese mobile phone, the broadcaster said, citing a North Korean security agency official it [read full story]

Venezuela’s ‘Cubanization’ confirms authoritarian trends

As evidence emerges of Venezuela’s collusion with terrorist groups plotting to kill Colombia’s president, the documented erosion of the country’s democracy, the arrival of a leading apparatchik from Havana, are raising concerns about the country’s authoritarian trajectory.
Spain’s High Court today accused the Chávista regime of aiding Basque Eta rebels and the Colombian Farc in planning [read full story]

Zuma endorses call for democractic governance – and welcomes China

This week’s meeting of African democracy advocates in Pretoria ended on a high when South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma signed the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance.  
Only four states – Mauritania, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Burkina-Faso – have ratified since it was adopted by the African Union in January 2007.
The fragility of African [read full story]

Cuba: dissident’s death prompts international outrage – and domestic crackdown

After the death of a prominent dissident prompted international outrage, Cuba’s communist authorities have reacted with a crackdown on the island’s democracy advocates.  
Political leaders and human rights groups deplored the passing of Orlando Zapata Tamayo and called on Havana to release political prisoners still in detention.
To forestall public protests at Zapata’s funeral, security services [read full story]

Democracy Events

Wednesday, February 24 – Saturday, February 27 – “Voices from Afghanistan” Exhibit – Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. SE – On February 24, a new exhibit at the Library of Congress will display some of the thousands of hand-painted scrolls and letters received by Radio Azadi, RFE/RL’s popular Afghan radio station. [read full story]

Cuban prisoner of conscience prompts concern

Concern is growing over the deteriorating condition of Cuban prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo:
After 75 days on hunger strike, Tamayo has been transferred to a prison hospital in Havana due to his “grave condition,” a dissident group reports. Elizardo Sanchez, chairman of the unofficial Cuban Human Rights Commission, said Zapata’s family confirmed the transfer [read full story]

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